Indians Prospect Insider

The Indians are considering a lot of options this offseason with changing the roster to improve it for next season. One thing they are considering is going outside the organization for help at third base both offensively and defensively, and apparently they have a good amount of interest in free agent Chase Headley. The IBI's Tony Lastoria talks about the Headley news and runs down all the news and rumors from around baseball on Tuesday.

A lot of attention is on the Red Sox at the moment after their blockbuster free agent signings of Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval on Monday. The Red Sox are still looking to add more pieces through free agency, but suddenly the focus around baseball is who they may trade in the wake of their spending spree. With a surplus of outfielders there is talk they may trade Yoenis Cespedes, and the IBI's Tony Lastoria believes he would be a perfect fit for the Indians.

The hot stove league is already warm and is only going to get hotter. While Indians fans would like to see the front office add a big bat like Nelson Cruz or a front line starting pitcher like Jon Lester or James Shields, the chances of that happening are very remote. With that in mind the IBI's Sam Camp takes a look at some free agent pitchers and position players who may fit what the Indians are looking for this offseason.

Monday is typically a slow night around winter ball since each league just has a smattering of games. Even with the light schedule, the Indians had a few players in action and the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes us Around the Farm to talk about catcher Roberto Perez's big night and more.

Are you ready for Thanksgiving? In this MLB News and Notes segment, the IBI's Andrew Zajac will be giving occasional reports on the latest news and rumors throughout the MLB. Today's piece focuses on the Red Sox bolstering their offense with two big signings, the Mariners signing their star third baseman to an extension, where Cole Hamels could land, and more.

At the moment the Indians opening day five-man rotation is set to be Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer and T.J. House. Barring an injury this spring or a very surprising trade of one of them this offseason, the rotation is about as set as it can be at this point in the offseason. But what if a few of them struggle early next season? The IBI's Tony Lastoria discusses what could be a very interesting roster crunch if that happens. He also talks about the Drew Stubbs and David Murphy swap in right field last offseason, explains starting pitching depth and much more.

As sports salaries spiral out of control, and professional teams rack up the profits, the IBI's John Mast sees only one segment of the game taking the hit for the apparent success of a game that once was so accessible and meaningful. The fans. In his latest, John shares some thoughts on improving the relationship with the fans and bringing a generation back to the game.

Several Indians were in action on Sunday and the IBI's Tony Lastoria provides the updates on how all of them did in our daily look Around the Farm. Tony also provides some updates on some injured players participating in winter ball, some role changes and much more.

The WAR Room is back again, bringing you the 2014 advanced stats for every Cleveland minor leaguer. With the minor league seasons at an end, we continue bringing you seasons in review, with today's featuring the 2014 Arizona League team. This week we focus on the hitters, with Jim Piascik comparing the team's two MVP candidates in Bobby Bradley and Yu-Cheng Chang, taking a look at Li-Jen Chu breaking out on the field, and much more as he takes you into The WAR Room.

According to a report in the Arizona Republic, the Indians and Diamondbacks have agreed to a trade where the Diamondbacks are sending right-handed pitcher Charles Brewer to the Indians for cash. The IBI's Tony Lastoria provides some quick thoughts on the trade, the reasoning behind it and who may be at risk of being removed from the roster.

Mother Nature was not kind on Saturday as she rained down on a lot of the Western Hemisphere and washed out several games in the Caribbean Leagues and affected others. The IBI's Arthur Kinney takes us Around the Farm and recaps what action did take place with some updates on a few Indians players.

The winter leagues in the Latin American countries provide an opportunity for players to play in more games and for Latin American players to play baseball in their home country. It gives some upper level minor league players a stage to showcase their talents and other players a chance to make up lost innings or at bats. In a piece that originally posted this time three years ago, the IBI's Tony Lastoria re-posts this piece with a few updates on the Winter Ball Experience for American players.

This is a continuation of this week’s edition of “Coach’s Corner” where the IBI's Tony Lastoria had a chance to sit down with High-A Carolina hitting coach Tony Mansolino. In part one they talked about players like Yandy Diaz, Todd Hankins, Erik Gonzalez, Anthony Galls, Joe Sever and LeVon Washington. In today’s second part they talked about the strides that Jeremy Lucas has made at the plate, the emergence of Yhoxian Medina, Logan Vick’s inconsistent season, the adjustment Torsten Boss worked on all season, and much more.

Indians top prospect Francisco Lindor just can't stop playing. He has been in action since March playing in spring games, then regular season games at Akron and Columbus and then recently this offseason in the Arizona Fall League. Just when you thought he was done he turns up in Puerto Rico playing in a tournament there. The IBI's Arthur Kinney recaps Lindor's night and his showing in Puerto Rico as well as the performances from other players.

The "shift" has become a big part of baseball over the past few seasons. As teams study data that suggests tendencies of hitters to hit the ball to a certain area of the field, teams have adjusted their defensive alignment in non-traditional ways to help defend against hitters. The IBI's John Mast is not a fan of the shirt and explains why in his latest.

The Indians made their annual offseason 40-man roster adds on Thursday adding five players from their player development system in advance of the midnight roster deadline. Here are the thoughts from the IBI's Tony Lastoria on the decisions the Indians made to add those five players, a look at why each was added, who they left off that they may be most at risk of losing in the Rule 5 Draft, and much more.

Expectations can drive our perception of things. If we are anticipating it to be freezing cold in mid-November, we can brace ourselves and be prepared. If we are blindsided by it, that cold can feel even worse than it already does. Jesus Aguilar’s four-digit OPS last year in the Venezuelan Winter League has raised expectations, but as Jim Piascik explains as he takes you Around the Farm, while it feels a little disappointing on the surface that he is not hitting at that level again, the first baseman is still having a good season.

In this week’s edition of “Coach’s Corner” the IBI's Tony Lastoria had a chance to sit down with High-A Carolina hitting coach Tony Mansolino. They talked about the learning year the organization had with Yandy Diaz and what kind of potential he has with the bat, how Todd Hankins really settled in well defensively and offensively once he was moved to center field, the big strides made by Erik Gonzalez and Anthony Galls which got them promoted to Double-A Akron, how Joe Sever and LeVon Washington performed in seasons that were abbreviated by injuries, and much more.

The Indians had a lot of very encouraging performances on their loaded rookie level Arizona team this past season. One of the players who had a big year was shortstop Yu-Cheng Chang who has become one of the Indians top prospects thanks to his tools, upside and MVP-like performance this past season. The IBI's Tony Lastoria recently had a chance to sit down and talk about his pro debut with the Indians...